In October, an off-duty Dr Tom Prichard helped restart a fan's heart after they collapsed in the stands at Newcastle United's ground St James' Park.

Last night Dr Prichard was working for Middlesbrough FC's medical team when an elderly man collapsed in the stands at Ewood Park during a game against Blackburn Rovers.

The Rovers supporter, who was situated in the lower tier of the Jack Walker Stand, took ill midway through the second half.

With the help of Middlesbrough physiotherapist Chris Moseley, CPR was carried out, before the man was transferred to an ambulance and then hospital.

The game - which Blackburn won 1-0 - was halted for 12 minutes while the emergency was handled.

In a statement, Blackburn praised both club medical teams for treating the man, adding that he was later "alert and stable".

Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder was praised for alerting the referee to the situation in the stands.

Speaking after the game, Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray said: "It was mentioned in the dressing room, the whole team were asking after him.

"This club is a very caring club about the community and we'll be doing everything we can to support the gentleman and his family and we wish him well."

While he was on duty for yesterday's game, Dr Prichard was just a fan at a match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur four months ago.

During that match he saw that someone had collapsed in a nearby row of seats.

Speaking to Sky News afterwards he said: "I thought I better get over and offer some help and advice."

He said he was used to treating heart attack patients in hospital, but out of hospital "I have not experienced that before".

"It was all very difficult. He was trapped in between some seats. It was quite noisy. I couldn't hear what the defibrillator was telling me. It was all a bit different. So it was a bit of a struggle. But plenty of extra support arrived which was very helpful."

Dr Prichard, who works at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, praised the St John's Ambulance crew and paramedics who "got the (defibrillator) pads on as quickly as they could". He also praised a fan for starting CPR early.